KERALA -'Truely Gods own country'

hi all,
This yr on our 8th anniversary we been to kerala.I swear its amazing,i always wanted to go to kerala since we were married,finally we could manage with ur leaves and arranged for a one week trip to kerala.
It was a surprise i gave to my hubby which he didn't know till 3days before we have to leave from jammu.my husband works in Indian Airforce so part of his work he had been out of town for more than a month which gave me time to do with the survey and book with a planner to make all the bookings with hotels and regarding other conveyance.
The tour planners were "The TravelPlanners.com,must say was an wonderful team who had excellent team and had hassle free arrangements reg, hotels and good conditioned vehicles, driver who is also a guide with pleasant manners.without out their support our trip would'nt have been a memorable one to share and cherish.
Our tour begun with trivandrum,kovallam here we stayed at uday samudra hotel for 1 1/2day.the hotel is so beautiful with neat private beach.had royal stay there.visited Padmanabhaswami temple,napier museum(where Raja Ravi varma's painting gallery) ,horse palace and in the evening spent at kovallam beach.done some shopping at Kairali art house.
Next day we drove to alleppy from where our boat house was to pick for the whole day voyage in the back waters of kerala and drop us at kumarakom next day.The voyage on boat house just for us with good people who cooked tasty local food and spellbound beauty either side was just cant be described in words,this was what i wanted from kerala the leisure and solitarity of pleasent unending strips of fields along side,villages,small vendors on the bay.one has to experience it.Not to forget my 1 hr message at the riverside massage centre.
On day 4 we drove from kumarakom to Thekkaddy,the drive was beautiful with spice farms all the way till thekkady.rubber,cardamom,pepper, tea etc.Reached thekkady in the afternoon,we stayed at Hotel Treetop, another good hotel,took rest,went to visit spice garden bought some fresh spices.got some gift packed to take back home.Been to Periyar Tiger Reserve.In the evening we watched 'kalaripayattu' - martial art show and Kathakali show.
On day 5 we drove from Thekkady to Munnar.The drive was just splendid,Tea estates anywhere u see,not an inch of land was wasted,the fragrance in the air is just so fresh,fresh tea leaves,clouds passing by,ranges all around filled with tea..tea and just tea and nothing else.we visited tea factory,had various flavours of tea locally grown there,been to Raja malai another splendid and mindblowing spot at munnar must see the drive to that spot is unforgettable.u need to have an real experienced driver to take u there.evening again watched Kathakali.here we stayed at Bracknell Forest hotel,i must say i am fida at this hotel.and the location it was built.u get the feel of an Forest,yet well facilitated if ordered a day before as the route is so narrow.the conveyance is restricted.
On day 6 we drove from Munnar to Cochin.here we visited Jewish synagog,St.Frances church it is at this church where Vasco da Gama was first buried and later his remains sent to Portugal,old dutch house,In the end we spent the evening at Fort Cochin watching the shade of setting sun.That day we stayed at Hotel Abad Plaza,in the prime locals of cochin,had lovely kerala special dinner and retired to our cozy room.
Next day we bid farewell to Kerala from Cochin.The place longed all the time had come to an end with very fond memories.We wish we go again some time later to rewind our experiences.
I highly recommend all nature lovers to go kerala once in life time. The actual tourist time for visiting Kerala r from Oct. to Feb.March-june r sunny;june-Sept r rainy.
thanks for taking time to read all the way,
bye!
sudha

 

thanks,
i will post the photos at the earliest. on our boat ride in periyar tiger reserve, we have seen so many birds,deers,and a tiger and its cub playing,a family of elephants, the day was cloudy so it started raining and it rained so heavily that all the birds and animals were no longer visible.had the rain not done the spoil sport we could have had must sight of wild life in the reserve.but the ride in the rain was different experience,the surroundings seemed much beautiful.
bye!
sudha.v

 

hi,
The travel agents were "The travelplanners" site is www.keralatourpackages.com.
and the package we opted for was "Best of Kerala".

sorry for the late reply,
sudha.v

 

Hi Nitya,
We went during the off season and opted for deluxe class accommodation in hotels.The package include hotel bills, b'fast in hotels,all 3meals on the house boat were free,converyance to various places in the itinerary,driver charges,parking charges etc.The package was 32,000/- for a couple.The same package would cost us 45+ during their tourist season(oct-mar) We had dinner and lunch from hygenic local hotels which were dead cheap say 30-45/- for veg thali.
Thekkady and munnar r heavens on earth.hope u had a great time,
bye!
sudha.v